The Golden Age of B2B Sales is dead

Oct 26, 2023

Shalini Ramanayake

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    The COO of retention.com, Santosh Sharan shared this invaluable post on LinkedIn recently…

     

    Last week Sam Jacobs said “The Golden Age of SaaS is over”.

    This means The Golden Age of B2B Sales is dead too

    Golden Age of B2B Sales (2007-2023):

    1. Most Markets were still unsaturated
    2. There were plenty of net new customer acquisition opportunities
    3. Several large markets opened up in horizontal SaaS
    4. Cheap capital and low interest rates led to conversion and expanding ACVs
    5. SDRs could still book meetings
    6. Decreasing CAC, ever increasing LTV
    7. Cold outreach (email and phone) worked and accelerated growth
    8. Rapid business growth led to rapid career growth and promotions
    9. Sales led buying process meant sales had a chance to influence decision
    10. Discovery could start early as early as 10% of the buying process

     

    The New World of B2B Sales (2023 -????)

    1. Most SaaS markets are now saturated 
    2. No net new opportunities left, all opportunities are competitive displacements
    3. A lot of the future opportunities are in niche vertical markets (much smaller)
    4. Capital is expensive (5%+) leading to longer sales cycles and shrinking ACVs
    5. SDRs are having a hard time booking meetings and will continue to do so
    6. CAC is increasing, LTV is decreasing
    7. Cold bulk outreach (email and phone) will increasingly not be effective
    8. Slower business growth will also result in slower career growth
    9. With Buyer led sales and PLG – sales has less opportunity to influence
    10. -Discovery is starting late as late as 80% of the buying process

     

    Here’s the silver lining:

    No matter what changes in sales…

    Relationship, trust and credibility still matters.

    In fact, maybe now more than ever.

    The key for sellers will be developing and sharing unique insights:

     

    • on products
    • on competitors
    • on customers

     

    Because activity alone isn’t going to get you there anymore.

    B2B Sales is about to get tough.

    Successful reps will “coach buyers on how to buy” and will go out of their way to “provide value” in making the buyer successful.

    This will involve shifting the focus from mindless activities to quality conversations and trusting relationships.

    Evolve or die.

     

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